Truman Medical Centers President/CEO John W. Bluford formally inducted as Chair of the American

April 11, 2011 - PRLog -- Kansas City, Mo — During the opening ceremonies of the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Annual Membership Meeting on Sunday, April 10, in Washington, D.C., Truman Medical Centers (TMC) President/CEO John W. Bluford was formally inducted as Chair of the AHA Board of Trustees.  He assumed the AHA’s highest elected position in January and will chair the AHA Board of Trustees for one year.

During his year long tenure as chair, Bluford will call upon hospitals across the nation to embrace the special role they play in the overall health of their respective communities. The goal is to reduce the disparities that the underserved have faced in regards to access to quality care and to work towards bringing about a cultural change in healthcare by focusing more on health, wellness and prevention than reactive medicine and disease treatment. Bluford feels that hospitals, because of their vital roles in the community, must branch out from their campuses into the community to provide direct and personal care, education and treatment to those who need it most. He will also stress the importance of healthcare professionals leading by example and working to improve their own health.  Bluford was the lead author of the AHA’s “A Call for Action:  Creating a Culture of Health” which provides a variety of innovative ideas from hospitals across the country their words into action and achieving great success.

In addition to his role as TMC President/CEO and Chair of the AHA, Bluford serves on the Board of the National Association of Public Hospitals, H&R Block, Fisk University, Morehouse School of Medicine and DeCare International and is the past chair of the Missouri Hospital Association and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.  Additional AHA activities have included membership on the Committee on Nomination, the Task Forces on Coverage and Access, the Health Care Systems Governing Council and the AHA Award Advisory Panel.

Bluford earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois and a bachelor’s degree from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

About the AHA
The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which includes more than 5,000 member hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 38,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.

About TMC
Truman Medical Centers is a not-for-profit two acute-care hospital health system in Kansas City. The TMC Health System includes TMC Hospital Hill, TMC Lakewood, TMC Behavioral Health, the Jackson County Health Department and a number of primary care practices throughout Eastern Jackson County. Recently named one of the nation’s top academic medical centers, TMC is the primary teaching hospital for the University of Missouri-Kansas City Schools of Health Sciences and specializes in asthma, bariatrics, diabetes, women’s health, and trauma services.  For more information, please call (816) 404-3785 or visit www.trumed.org


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TMC is a not-for profit health system in Kansas City. TMC includes TMC Hospital Hill, TMC Lakewood, TMC Behavioral Health, the Jackson Co. Health Department. TMC is the primary teaching hospital for the UMKC School of Medicine.